Alexandrine Kelder-Gortmans, who signed with her first name, was born in 1903 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her mother passed away in 1916, on a journey to the Netherlands. She was insulted by strangers on the street in The Hague because of her Indonesian appearance. Out of distain she subsequently never wanted to paint a Dutch subject. She married painter and sculptor Toon Kelder (1894-1973), who developed from figurative to abstract expressionist after the war and then turned his back to paint and brush, finally becoming a geometric-abstract sculptor. She undoubtedly learned several techniques from him. The couple moved to southern France in 1960. In these subtropical natural surroundings, Alexandrine imagined herself back in her happy childhood. She began to draw and paint. Characteristic of her work is the depiction of tropical vegetation and the deep blue-green coloration. The sentimental atmosphere expresses more than just personal nostalgia and memories of youth. With oil paint on canvas as the thematic for both landscapes and portraits, she chose – as autodidact – conventional ‘academic’ depictions.